ESPN Insider article request: Dirk Nowitzki on Basketball and Love

[cotdt]

Can someone who has ESPN Insider post this very intersting article:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/news/story?id=4820406&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba %2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fid%3d4820406

[hawksdogsbraves]

This column appears in the January 25 issue of ESPN The Magazine.

Dirk Nowitzki's track pants are riding a little high as he works the court at Mavs practice, his socks in clear view, unruly Keith Urban hair held fast by the sweatband haloing his forehead -- traces of his Euro roots, even now, a dozen years into the NBA. He playfully trash-talks with teammates, running a joke into the ground, as is his habit. The clowning interferes little with his focus. He nails his shots, every basket low-hanging fruit, grinning as the net snaps. "Oh, yeah," he booms in his deep baritone, wide smile showing rabbity teeth.


Ethan Levitas for ESPN The Magazine
Rick Carlisle watches the face of his franchise race around, chasing stray balls, a Labrador let loose. "Dirk lives the game," the coach says, nodding in approval. "Since age 13, everything he does in his life is and has been geared toward being the best basketball player he can be. And the thing that you love about Dirk is that he loves living that life." The "life" Carlisle refers to does not involve diamond-encrusted stereo speakers, salacious cocktail waitresses or painkiller addictions that conveniently explain a proclivity for diamond encrusting and cocktail waitresses. No, the life for Nowitzki -- All-Star, NBA MVP, future Hall of Famer -- is and has always been only about basketball. "He's not flashy," says Mavs head trainer Casey Smith. "He's not conspicuously spending money. Or hanging with high-profile friends. He's not after every dollar he can get. It isn't interesting to him."

As such, Nowitzki has no slick agent or publicist, no signature fragrance or designer-jeans line. He has very few endorsements -- almost all in Germany -- not because he can't get offers but because he chooses to stop short of making himself a brand. He isn't selling anything but game, and a fairly vanilla game at that. "I'm not going to jump over two guys and dunk it or stare or muscle you down," he says of his style, which is quiet, quick and coolly efficient. Even a recent collision with the grill of Houston's Carl Landry, which resulted in five busted teeth for Landry and three stitches for Nowitzki, was more about what typically happens when elbow meets enamel than any badassery.

Nowitzki is old-school, a workhorse. He does drills, push-ups on fingertips, late-night shooting practice. And his commute is always the same. Drive directly to the arena, then back home, a well-worn groove of enthusiastic compliance. He avoids red meat and dairy. He does not drink or smoke or invite girls up to his hotel room. He has no swag. For the most part, his idea of fun is to stay home and read. Or watch basketball. (He does insist that he raps -- in German -- and dances; "I'm good," he says, an assertion teammates dismiss with eye rolls.) He is the Taylor Swift of the NBA. Which is why it was all the more startling when, last May, the media released a mug shot of Nowitzki's then-fianc

[hawksdogsbraves]

His gaze drifts as he contemplates his older self. "I'm 31 now. I have a couple of more years. I want a family, for sure. That whole thing in May didn't drive me off. I still want a wife, kids. I don't know. I don't think I can walk away from basketball entirely. Besides," he grins wryly, "it's a little late for me to get picked up by a boy band."

Back at the Mavs' facility, Nowitzki is recalling his athletic beginnings. As a child, he played tennis and team handball. Dad was the school handball coach, a former champ who took his son's nascent interest in hoops as a smack in the face. "When I told him I wanted to quit handball to play basketball, he said, 'Are you insane?'" Nowitzki says. "He hated basketball. My mom and sister played. He was basically saying, You can't play this girly sport."

Nowitzki says he was never great at anything except basketball, but that his decision was partially fueled by being teased. "Kids are pretty cruel," he says flatly. "In fourth grade I was taller than the teacher. I was from a smaller town so it was hard to find clothes. I'd be running around in the same shoes for years." On court, the teasing stopped. At 13, he joined the junior national team, and with travel came enlightenment. "My schoolmates hadn't even left the town. I was all over Europe." Nowitzki decided he was bigger than W

[cotdt]

Thanks a lot man! It's an interesting read. May the Hawks do well.

[hawksdogsbraves]

Man this article makes me feel bad for Dirk.

[cotdt]

Man this article makes me feel bad for Dirk.

I'm surprised that Dirk isn't able to find love given that he is a basketball superstar. Kobe is shy and quiet like Dirk but the girls all love him.

Maybe Dirk is just too big, ya know what I mean?

[chains5000]

I'm surprised that Dirk isn't able to find love given that he is a basketball superstar. Kobe is shy and quiet like Dirk but the girls all love him.
You shouldn't have posted that.:lol

[KelticForce1349]

Thank you for posting this article, it is pretty good. I can't believe the part about not drinking though...since when does Dirk not like the beers? No dairy or red-meat? What? That is soooo not German.

It is funny to me that my family over in Germany have known Dirk for most of their lives, and yet, I have never met Dirk when I travel to visit. My nephew Hans is something of a Dirk protege considering that Dirk spotted his talent at a very young age. I knew that Dirk was of the old-school German system that didn't believe in weight training, but no red-meat or dairy??? I have got to ask Hans about that.

No red meat, weight-training, etc explains all too well a lack of post play.

[ZOMG]

I'm surprised that Dirk isn't able to find love given that he is a basketball superstar.

Find "love"? I'm sure there's a hundred gold diggers with model looks ready to pounce on Dirk every time he's on the road. All NBA players get that. Would that be love, though?

Lots of NBA players are married to girls they met in college, or even in high school. Finding someone dependable you can trust your life with is probably pretty difficult when you're a 31 year old NBA superstar - and single.

[sergiorodriguez]

Dirk should find a german model

[spursrule]

He should do the Bachelor :D


I like the german model idea. Here is a girl for Dirk:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Stegner

Hook em up!

[Horatio33]

im similar to dirk (not basketball wise!) in that i dont show feelings. i feel sorry for him. seems a cool guy.

[50inchvertical]

Dirk doesn't drink? BS
http://drunkathlete.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/steve-nash-dirk-nowitzki-2-drunk-pictures-400x300.jpg
http://www.buveurs.com/local/cache-vignettes/L500xH427/dirk_drunk1-f1a33.jpg

[mavsownage41]

Dirk doesn't drink? BS
http://drunkathlete.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/steve-nash-dirk-nowitzki-2-drunk-pictures-400x300.jpg
http://www.buveurs.com/local/cache-vignettes/L500xH427/dirk_drunk1-f1a33.jpg

After the Mavs lost to the Warriors in 07, he stopped all of that. I remember reading an article were he stated he stopped drinking, no red meat or pork, no dairy, and he had a chef cook him healthier meals.

Dirk is a cool dude, he'll find someone. If not, he can give me a call, I need a husband.

[dallaslonghorn]

Just shows that nobody's life is perfect.

[cotdt]

Dirk is a cool dude, he'll find someone. If not, he can give me a call, I need a husband.

You should contact him haha.

[phoenix18]

Just shows that nobody's life is perfect.

So true.